from the USTA Communications Department

Columbus, OH — Charles “Chucky” M. Wilson, Jr., 61, of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., died Aug. 2, 2013, at his home.

Mr. Wilson was one of harness racing’s biggest fans and was well known to horsemen in the area. His involvement in the sport dated back to the late 1960s.

According to friend Debra Leonelli, Mr. Wilson’s father was very good friends with a man by the name of George Wallace, and he was good friends with Charlie Kelly, who had one of the biggest stables in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Mr. Wilson helped them until 1971 when he got drafted.

When he returned home in 1974, it was recession time, so he went down and got his groom’s license and went to work just like before helping the Kelly stable, which was always one of the best and won a lot of races back then. He stayed with that Kelly stable until they downsized and ended up going to work at a local mill.

Mr. Wilson always kept his foot in the door and would always go down to watch the horses. It was fun for him, so he jogged, trained, cleaned stalls and rubbed horses. He noted that it was “different times, different era, and my time was the old time and the fun time.”

Friends may call from 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday (Aug. 6) at M.B. Kilmer Funeral Home, 136 Main Street, South Glens Falls, NY 12803. To post online condolences for the family and to view his Book of Memories, visit www.kilmerfuneralhome.com.

A funeral service will be conducted at 11 a.m. on Wednesday (Aug. 7) at the funeral home with Rev. Patti Girard, pastor of Hartford Yoked Parish, officiating.